September 2025 – August 2027
Communities across Africa are facing their worst food crisis in 40 years, with rising rates of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and anemia. Humanitarian groups distribute ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs), but in Kwale County, Kenya, low community awareness limits their use and impact. In collaboration with the Kenya Red Cross Society in Kwale County, this project will develop culturally tailored education campaigns to boost RUTF acceptance and track treatment outcomes. It will also address concerns about excess iron in RUTFs, which can harm undernourished children with impaired iron absorption. By studying iron absorption during treatment, the project aims to design safer iron supplementation strategies that delay iron until children can better absorb it. This combined approach hopes to improve the safety, effectiveness, and uptake of RUTFs to better combat SAM and anemia.
ETH PI: Prof. Dr. Nicole Stoffel
ETH Team: Christophe Zeder
Humanitarian Partner(s): Mohamed Mwaenzi (Kenya Red Cross Society)
Other partners: Dr. Edith Mwasi, MD (Ministry of Health, Msambweni County Referral Hospital, Msambweni, Kenya), Prof. Simon Karanja (Jomo Kenyatta University), Suzanne Nyilima (Jomo Kenyatta University), Prof. Stephen Hennigar (Pennington Biomedical Research Center)
Photo: Nicole Stoffel
